It has been hard to miss the news coverage of the tragic event that occurred at the Kentucky Derby this past weekend. Even though NBC chose not to show Eight Belles being euthanized on their live broadcast, the footage and images of the shaking and obviously in pain horse is everywhere. I myself can’t get it out of my head. I remember how I followed the story of Barbaro, the 2006 derby winner and how he too was euthanized after a long attempt to mend a broken leg. So this recent tragedy reminded me why I hate the exploitation of animals.
    Horse racing is a multi-billion dollar business based on abusing these thoroughbreds. Much like their human athlete counterparts, these animals are pushed to success with intense training and often performance enhancing medications. But the obvious difference being humans can choose wether to play or not and that they get rewarded with much more than oats, apples and 22 hours a day in a stall. If the sport was purely about appreciating the beauty and power of these equine athletes, then why don’t we simply observe them as they run and play in open pastures.   
    Sport is just one way our society uses animals as tools to further our needs (and wants). Necessity is one thing, but all too often it is our idealism that we are the dominant species on this planet that gives us the right to use animals how we see fit.
    The medical profession does this in spades, in the name of furthering science. Mice and rats are the staple of researchers around the world, dogs are used in procedure labs and monkey’s are used because of their physiological proximity to humans. Supporters of animal research argue that thousands of medical advancements are made because of this research and that these animals are bread for this purpose. Right here in Boston, there are several major hospitals that use live animals so we doctors can ‘practice’ the procedures before trying them on humans.
    I feel this waste of a living, breathing, emotional entities, (not to mention intelligent) is unnecessary in 2008. We have medical simulator mannequins that have realistic anatomy and provide a much closer approximation of performing medicine on a real human being. I remember thinking at my ATLS course, “Gee I am sure this ONE practice thorocostomy tube on this muscular sheep really has me prepared for the that 38 your old obese trauma victim with a pneumothorax.” And what in the hell does Mars Candies learn from injecting the coloring dye from M&Ms into rabbits’ eyes?
    As with everything, it is all about money. Products are tested so they can be deemed ‘safe’ so they can be sold to make money. These safety checks limit liability so as not to cost money in lawsuits down the road. But I do often wonder if you did take the money factor out of the equation, would society still have a propensity to abuse that which it can control. I think history answers that question.
    So my next question is: When as a 'civilized' society, will we stop using everything we can get our hands on as tools of entertainment and financial gain just because we can?